TRANSFORMERS TOYS AND MERCHANDISE SECTION

Robot Mode:

Alternate Mode:

Box Art:

Blackjack's review: Wheelie

Name: Wheelie
Preliminary/Other name: Wheels
Allegiance: Decepticon, later Autobot Mikaela
Function: Spy
Sub-group: ROTF Deluxe Class

Yeah. Wheelie. He's stated to appear in the Revenge of the Fallen movie, as a Radio Control Monster Truck. Nope, you read me right. At last, we get a 1:1 scale figure of a transformer.

G1 Wheelie is infamous for his constantly annoying rhyming. That, and shoving the former kid-appeal character, Bumblebee, aside. Oh, and he had a particularly crappy toy. G1 Wheelie got a Universe legends toy recently. That one is the very antithesis of crappy. I did not find Wheelie that annoying anymore after reading Spotlight:Wheelie. After G1, the name of Wheelie disappeared entirely from transformers toys, slipping into obscurity. The only event where his name was used was a Minicon's Japanese name. Well, since Michael Bay apparently loved using obscure character names in his first movie (i.e. Blackout and Barricade), it's no wonder that Wheelie was picked. It's a safe bet that he'll look like Frenzy in the movie.

Wheelie appeared first in his vehicle mode, spying on Mikaela, and trying to obtain the AllSpark shard Sam gave her. After a mishap with a mousetrap, Mikaela torched Wheelie's eye, and locked him in a metal case. Later, Mikaela forced him to translate Cybertronian glyphs. Seeing that Jetfire is allowed to change sides, Wheelie followed suit, because he loves Mikaela's leg that much. he then humped Mikaela's leg, before being punted by Sam. Jetfire teleports the good guys to Egypt. After arguing with Jetfire, Wheelie disappears for the entire final battle, but presumably he survives.

ROBOT MODE

Wheelie, unlike the majority of deluxe class toys, is packaged in robot mode. Take him out of the package, stretch the legs and neck to their full height, and, oh, it's ironic. Wheelie, supposedly one of the smallest transformers in the movie, stands as tall as Voyager class toys. Taller than Voyager Classics Megatron and able to look eye to eye with Voyager '07 Movie Starscream. Like Animated Lockdown, Wheelie is abnormally tall for a deluxe. Not a problem to me, but might be to some. Still, he's accurate in size.

Wheelie has a very, very unusual body. Two gigantic square Wall-E-esque optics, able to bend down and up. The jaws (they can't move) rest under the poesable eyes. The optics and jaw rest on a long gray neck, able to lean forward or crane up. The chassis is rather odd, and not to my liking. A bit polygonal, and stands a insignia on the chest. A spinning handle is able to be turned to switch the Autobot symbol into Decepticon and vice-versa. This feature is the glorified 'Mech Alive' gimmick of Wheelie. This is not reflected in the movie. As long as it doesn't get in the way of transformation (too much) it's a nice bonus.

Wheelie has two long, gangly arms with two long claw-fingers and one claw-thumb on each hand. Being a fan of claws and unique hands, I took an instant liking to Wheelie's hands. The arms are slender and animal-like, think Frenzy. Jointed at angles that give him an alien feel, Wheelie looks really like one of those Transformers in the movie. Wheelie's legs are wheels (fitting, really) with two clawed toes, a la Bonecrusher, to balance him. You can fold the claws back to give him feet that is only a wheel, like his in the movie.

Wheelie is very poesable, with multiple joints in the limbs and neck, and even the eyes.

Oh, and Wheelie's paint job is dark blue and gray, a large departure from his orange G1 colour. Better, in my opinion.

TRANSFORMATION

Wheelie's transformation is very complex. No, it doesn't take that much steps, but some pieces, like the chest/roof and the hood, refuse to slide into their vehicle-mode positions. The handle that changes the insignias is also a great pain to fit into the hood. The instructions don't help by skipping some steps. But as always, once you get the hang of it, it's easy.

VEHICLE MODE

Wheelie's alternate mode is a great departure from his G1 dragster alternate mode. This time it's a monster truck. A RC monster truck, to be specific. Think G1 Mudslinger's alternate mode.

The big problem with Wheelie? Three wheels roll fine, like normal wheels. The fourth wheel is stationary, unable to turn. This sucks. So Wheelie won't be able to roll well.

Kibble check, now. The gangly gray limbs that are Wheelie's hands and legs are folded neatly into his underside, probably masquerading as wires or stuff. His mouth lies on the tiny truck bed, hoping not to get noticed. So does the beady orange eyes.

Paint job is predominantly dark blue, giving Wheelie a very Offroad Ironhide look. Gray and dark gray are used for the underside and ginormous wheels.The front bumper lights are not painted, instead, they are block-coloured gray. In vehicle mode, he's about as large as any deluxe class car, but Wheelie's a bit taller than the other cars due to those gigantic wheels.

Marks out of ten for the following:

Transformation 8/10 The first time round is bloody hard, but Wheelie is easier to transform when you have transformed him once.
Price 7/10 It's surprising for me to say that Wheelie's actually worth it. But there's still the problem of the stationary wheel....
Fun 9/10 Claws, poseability and possibly a good role in the movie. I think he's quite fun.
Durability 9/10 Okay, he's quite durable. Survived falls from shelves. Note: never display him in robot mode with wheels (no toes) as legs.
Overall 7/10 Wheelie's robot mode is wicked, and very poseable. It's very fun tinkering with it. But the alternate mode only has three functional wheels, which rips off marks from him. Overall, it's just about how much you like his character in the movie, which I kind of do. Since I'm in a good mood, I'll give him a 7.